


Santa Claus

by Yeonni



Category: K-pop, Super Junior, Super Junior-M
Genre: Based on a photo, M/M, Short & Sweet, Snapshots, Unresolved, takes place in one day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 05:42:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13229229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeonni/pseuds/Yeonni
Summary: This is a one-shot based on a photo of Henry trying to kiss Donghae on stage I randomly stumbled upon years ago. I tried to use the "photo" idea as a concept, which is why each paragraph is so short, like photos of instances. Ah that sounds pretentious. Anyway, it's for my friend who is a big SuJu fan :)[Donghae gestured in Henry's direction. “The kid, um, do you remember when we talked about...” he paused just long enough. “Santa?”Siwon was a statue for a moment, thinking, then his eyes widened, his mouth opened in a scandalized O.“No, no,” Donghae hurried to stop him. “But the kid, he said,” he started laughing again, pulling the hood down tighter around his head. “He was talking about his chimney,” he snorted.]





	Santa Claus

**Author's Note:**

> The [photo in question](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/3e/78/8a/3e788a0ed46ec8105f6592cba2231c5d--colour-henry-lau.jpg) can easily be found by googling, along with video, which I encourage because Henry's reaction is almost better than the (attempted) kiss itself. (Henry fails, but the angle the photo is taken makes it look like he succeeded :3)

 

**SANTA CLAUS**

 

“He used to come in through the, because my house had a real... fire... ch... chimney?”

Donghae burst into laughter, turning to Eunhyuk. Next to him Eunhyuk snorted, swallowing juice, trying not to spit it all over everyone.

Confused, Henry looked from them to Ryewook, who shrugged, and back to them. “Did I say something wrong?” he asked, mentally going through what he'd said. “Ah not in the fire, I mean, because you know, Santa goes in the... chimney? Is it chimney?”

This time nothing was stopping Eunhyuk, who exploded into happy laughter, while Donghae squealed and skipped away. Hurriedly, Eunhyuk waved his hands at Henry. “No, nothing wrong, sorry,” and ran after Donghae.

Henry's eyebrows asked Ryewook a question.

Ryewook shook his head, only mildly surprised because those two were like this sometimes. “Just ignore them,” he said.

* * *

 

“Stop it!” Eunhyuk demanded, slapping Donghae's shoulder.

Donghae kept giggling, undeterred.

“That poor kid,” Eunhyuk said. “Why are you like this.”

Donghae giggled harder.

Eunhyuk shook his head at it, but within ten seconds he was giggling too.

* * *

 

On his back on a couch, Donghae dug his hands in under his head and stared at the ceiling. Somewhere out of sight he could hear Henry having a conversation with Kyuhyun. There was too much noise around them for him to hear clearly, but then he thought he heard _chimney_ and suddenly he was smiling, chuckling to himself. He rolled over on his side and pulled the hood up.

“Are you crying?” Siwon asked, coming by and spotting him.

Donghae hid in the hood and shook his head.

“Is something wrong?” Siwon asked, clearly not believing him, sitting on the couch.

Siwon wouldn't get off his back ever now, if he didn't give him a proper answer, so Donghae gestured in Henry's direction. “The kid, um, do you remember when we talked about...” he paused just long enough. “Santa?”

Siwon was a statue for a moment, thinking, then his eyes widened, his mouth opened in a scandalized O.

“No, no,” Donghae hurried to stop him. “But the kid, he said,” he started laughing again, pulling the hood down tighter around his head. “He was talking about his chimney,” he snorted.

“You!” Siwon said, slapping his hip lightly. “Stop thinking!”

That only made Donghae laugh more.

* * *

 

Henry gestured, mimicked, did everything he could but Kyuhyun didn't get it. Sighing, he gave up and turned around and spotted Donghae and Siwon on the couch. Siwon was laughing and glancing in his direction, like they were laughing about him. It probably wasn't anything bad, those hyungs weren't the type, but it still made him tired. All of the language issues made him tired, and today in particular he felt like he'd been stared at and laughed at enough. He headed over.

“Here he comes,” Siwon said.

Donghae, who was curled up hiding in his hoodie, scooted back and sat up to make space for him, but then Siwon was called away. Henry sat in his place, and Donghae tucked his feet in under Henry's thigh.

The way Donghae was smiling at him, Henry wasn't getting anything out of him. He'd have to try the other hyung later. He sighed, frustrated and annoyed and tired, but now also comfortable. He leaned in the couch, let the back of his head rest against the back and swung one arm around Donghae's legs so his hand ended up on Donghae's thigh.

“I'm tired,” he said, closing his eyes. Then opened one eye to peek at Donghae. “Chimney!” he said.

Donghae started giggling.

“Ah,” Henry sighed. “I know, I know. I know Santa isn't real...”

“I like Santa Claus,” Donghae said suddenly. Then he snorted and laughed into the hood; Henry couldn't tell if he was happy or embarrassed or teasing him.

Shaking his head at it, Henry patted his thigh. This hyung was so cute and silly. Closed his eyes again and let himself drift off. Soon there would be work but for now...

* * *

 

Donghae's giggles died down, watching Henry fall asleep. He was happy that Henry didn't take offense to the giggling, and happy that Henry felt comfortable enough to just fall asleep on him like this. He imagined Henry's young, excited face. _Of course I believe in Santa! He used to come into my house through the, because we had a real, a... chimney?_ But for some reason it wasn't funny this time. Why had he said that, _I like Santa Claus_? Henry didn't know what it meant anyway, but still, he shouldn't have.

Someone tapped his head. He leaned back and found Eunhyuk.

“Your turn,” Eunhyuk said.

Donghae inched away from Henry without waking him up and went to get his hair done. When he looked back over his shoulder, Eunhyuk had taken his place, and thrown a random jacket found nearby over Henry.

* * *

 

Talking animatedly, interrupted constantly by Kyuhyun, Siwon noticed Henry leaned against the door frame nearby picking apart something and eating it. He wondered what it was, because he wanted to eat too. Then Donghae came wandering, hair done, and when he tried to pass Henry, Henry held out some food. Donghae accepted it directly into his mouth and continued on his way. But Siwon caught him glancing back before turning the corner.

He elbowed Kyuhyun, before he remembered that Kyuhyun wouldn't know what was up, so he jumped at the chance while Kyuhyun was startled by the elbowing to continue talking instead.

* * *

 

They were waiting, doing their pre-show rituals, getting hair and make-up touched up, making sure the microphones were in place and everything was right. Gathered up in a pile for a final little pep talk, and suddenly Donghae felt someone press up against his back; a chin was rested on his shoulder, and hands came to his side. For a second he assumed it was Eunhyuk and nothing was going on, but then he realized that Eunhyuk was standing right in front of him. He turned his head and found Henry. Calmly listening to the talk, not paying Donghae any attention.

He wasn't sure what to do about it, and then the circle was breaking up and everyone scattered again.

* * *

 

The show was loud and bright and at some point in the middle – it was all a blur – Henry looked into Donghae's sparkling eyes and suddenly they were kissing, he was kissing Donghae, and happy energy surged through him as he bounced away to the wild cheers of the audience, leaving Donghae standing there like lightning had struck but _it hadn't been so bad_. And Henry struggled to not look at him more than usual during the show, because after the fact it was really nerve wrecking because he didn't know how much he'd crossed the line. The rules of skinship were still a little difficult to understand, and he'd never have dared do it to some of the other guys, but suddenly he'd figured it was probably okay with Donghae... was it?

* * *

 

“Yah~,” Donghae said, pushing Henry lightly. Eunhyuk glanced over, alarmed, but it looked like Donghae was pretending to be upset for formality's sake. Siwon was watching, chuckling, so Eunhyuk could trust him to make sure things didn't get out of hand, one way or another. “What do you think you're doing,” Donghae said.

Henry grinned, innocently, except not so innocently because they all knew that grin meant _I know, but I'm so cute, don't be mad_. “Wasn't it fun?” he said.

Donghae moved in, crowding him backwards, playing the bully hyung.

“Ah, hyung, wait, hold on,” Henry said, giggling nervously. He didn't know them as well as they did each other; maybe he wasn't one hundred percent sure Donghae was pretending. “Hyung, just, I, hyung.” He held up a finger.

Donghae looked at that finger like _don't you dare to wave a finger in my face_ and it quickly went down with an instinctive little half-bow and appeasing smile from Henry.

“Hyung, hyung,” he laughed. “Help?” he asked the others.

Siwon was leaning against the wall, relaxed, entertained. “It was cute,” he offered.

“Cute?” Donghae demanded. “He kissed me!” He pointed to his own lips for effect.

Henry went down with a snort and an embarrassed laugh, dropping onto the bench.

* * *

 

Donghae didn't often play the wronged hyung, so when he did, he had too much fun to maintain the illusion of being angry for very long. He felt like there had to be some kind of punishment, however, since Henry wasn't showing any regret, only embarrassment. So when Henry dropped, he playfully grabbed his shirt and tipped him over and sat on him.

Squealing, Henry covered his head with his arms, so Donghae made use of the free access to his torso and started tickling him.

“Okay, okay,” Siwon said after a moment, coming in and pulling at Donghae's arm. “You're killing him.” By the screaming laughter and the way Henry was wriggling around under him, that might be true. Donghae climbed off him, smiling, finding Eunhyuk watching from the other side of the room.

Eunhyuk wasn't smiling? Donghae turned back to Henry, suddenly wondering if he'd gone too far, and Henry, still giggling, pulled his shirt back into place and flew out of the couch and mumbled something about bathroom and escaped.

Ah, had he?

* * *

 

Hiding in the bathroom, Henry chewed on his lip staring at his own face in the mirror. _What do you think you're doing?_ Donghae had asked. What did he think he was doing? What was he doing?

* * *

 

Most of them were asleep fifteen seconds into the bus ride to the hotel. Siwon could tell Eunhyuk was still awake though. Donghae was falling asleep, with Henry next to him. Henry wouldn't normally sit there, but had slipped into place with a mischievous smile and no one had had the energy to argue. Siwon saw their reflections in the window. Donghae's head tipped this way and that as he almost fell asleep repeatedly, until Henry guided his head to his own shoulder and Donghae fell asleep properly. Another few minutes, and Henry was also asleep.

Siwon's eyes met Eunhyuk's in the rear view mirror. Hm.

* * *

 

Donghae rubbed his eyes, confused. “Is this my room?” he asked whoever was nearby.

Kyuhyun frowned. “This is my room, no?”

“Isn't that our room?” Eunhyuk pointed.

Ugh, Donghae couldn't deal with this, he was exhausted. He turned and tried his keycard in the door Eunhyuk had pointed to but nothing happened. Why wasn't the room numbers written on the keys! What kind of hotel was this!

Henry reached over and tried his card, and the door clicked open. Henry gestured for Donghae to enter. Donghae looked around for Eunhyuk. “Our rooms had connecting doors, you can go in from here,” Henry said.

Oh yeah! Relieved, Donghae entered the room. Henry clicked on the lights and Donghae found the door and tried his card. What?

“Isn't this my room?” he asked, confused.

“Yeah,” Henry said, coming over. “Maybe something is wrong with your card. Eunhyuk-hyung!”

Eunhyuk waved at them from the corridor to wait a moment.

Henry wrapped his arms around Donghae's waist and rested his cheek against his shoulder and settled in, not knowing how long Eunhyuk would be out there. Donghae closed his eyes and leaned back into him. Like two cards holding each other standing, they leaned on each other this way, too tired to stand on their own.

* * *

 

This hyung wasn't just nice and handsome, Henry's exhausted brain thought, he smelled good too.

* * *

 

Donghae stiffened, suddenly wide awake. Was Henry... was that Henry's nose in his neck?! He turned around and found a very tired Henry pouting. When Henry reached for him again, he pushed the hand away. “Don't.”

“Why?”

“Don't be like this.”

“Why? You're like this with Eunhyuk-hyung all the time,” Henry sulked. “Is it because he's the same age?”

“He's my best friend,” Donghae said.

* * *

 

Henry sighed. Resigned, he sat down on the bed, peeled off his sweater but didn't get any further with undressing because Donghae was standing right there looking at him. It hadn't mattered before. But now it mattered a lot.

His eyes found a pamphlet on the side table and he picked it up, already chuckling, and held it up for Donghae. “Santa!” he said, grinning. It was an advertisement for some kind of Christmas event with a picture of a stuffed Santa Clause.

A smile passed over Donghae's face, before he bit his lip and turned away, hand in hand in front of him, waiting for Eunhyuk like a toy soldier.

“Hyung,” Henry called.

Donghae ignored him.

* * *

 

“Hyung!”

Donghae pretended not to hear Henry and marched out to Eunhyuk. “Card,” he demanded.

Eunhyuk looked startled by his tone, but fished out the card and handed him. Donghae went back in and swiped the card and the tiny lamp turned green as the lock clicked open. He opened the door, but then Henry was there, closing it.

Outraged, he stared at Henry.

“Wait, wait, just a second,” Henry said. Squirmed. “I'm sorry I kissed you on stage, hyung. I just, um...” he looked so young and nervous and vulnerable that Donghae felt sorry for him.

“What's the matter?” he helped.

* * *

 

“Hyung, when you said you like Santa Clause,” Henry said. “Didn't you mean that... well... this,” he gestured between them, peeking at Donghae through his lashes, trying to see if he understood.

Donghae looked alarmed, guarded. Like a wild animal on the edge of running away.

“Because Eunhyuk-hyung told me that Santa, that it means...” Henry licked his lips and gestured at his own groin, feeling himself blush. Screw this. It had been stupid. Stupid, stupid Henry. He should have just let it be. He'd let down his guard because he was so tired. He cleared his throat and looked away. He had to figure out what to do with this awkward situation, how to say the right thing.

Donghae took a breath and Henry perked up, trying to look like a good, attentive dongsaeng that you could trust and be honest with. “That's why,” Donghae said, taking his shoulder, “you shouldn't do this. It's difficult for me. You understand? Good night.” He went into his room and disappeared.

Henry stared at the door slowly swinging shut, brain working overtime, feet stuck to the floor.

* * *

 

Donghae crashed into bed. His heart was hammering in his chest. Only Eunhyuk and Siwon knew. Probably some of the guys suspected, but those two helped him, covered for him. He hadn't told anyone for years. Not since that week where he and Eunhyuk had had a whispered, giggling conversation about _Santa Clause going up and down chimneys_ that Siwon overheard and got involved in, and suddenly he'd said too much and been dying but they'd pulled him back up. Saved him. Calmed him down and assured him that everything was fine and promised they'd help him hide it.

It had been fine since then. Sometimes he was lonely but then Eunhyuk hugged him or Siwon squeezed his shoulder and he felt better. They gave him extra much skinship and were patient when he did it because they understood that sometimes, sometimes it was difficult and lonely. Sometimes the fact that he'd never have the things he wanted got so heavy he needed someone to help carry it for a moment.

A weight pushed down his bed. He sat up and found Henry.

* * *

 

“Um,” Henry said, mentally cursing at himself, wondering why he was here, why he was pushing when Donghae clearly didn't want to be pushed, but he couldn't help it. Just this, he promised himself, so that everything was clear between them, no more misunderstandings. “Hyung,” he said, “I don't think you understood.” People never understood, but this time he knew exactly what to say. “I, um, because I like Santa Claus too. Y'know?”

He saw understanding creep into Donghae's eyes, reluctantly, like he didn't dare believe it but couldn't deny it, and it was like watching a sunrise.

* * *

 

_Earlier_

“ _Tell me what it means,” he asked._

_Eunhyuk shook his head._

“ _Please? Hyung? Please? It's not a good feeling when people laugh at you.”_

“ _It's, you know._ That _. Santa going in a chimney. You know?”_

“ _I don't.”_

_Eunhyuk sighed. “Penis,” he said very quietly. “Santa is penis, do you get it now?”_

“ _What?” Henry asked, reflexively, confused and embarrassed at once._

“ _It's just me and Donghae and Siwon, it's an old joke,” Eunhyuk said. “Don't worry about it. We weren't really laughing at you. It just that,” he chuckled, “Santa used to go in your chimney?” He turned away to laugh._

_Henry felt like his face was turning into a bright red stop sign._

“ _Don't bother Donghae with this,” Eunhyuk said._

“ _Why?” Henry asked. Why specifically not that hyung?_

“ _Because he's shy,” Eunhyuk said and left the couch._

_Hm. Obviously Eunhyuk had tried to warn him off it, but to Henry's ears it sounded more like a challenge. Where was Donghae anyway, he'd been right there when Henry fell asleep... Henry turned around and noticed Donghae in the chair getting his hair done. Suddenly his heart stopped, like struck by lightning he just froze. Wait._

“I like Santa Claus, _” Donghae had said, smiling at him._

_No way. Could it be that...?_

 

**END**

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, happy holidays! I hope the new year will treat us all well.


End file.
